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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 
BUREAU OF EDUCATION 



BULLETIN. 1920. No. 10 



CORRESPONDENCE STUDY IN 

UNIVERSITIES AND 

COLLEGES 



By 
ARTHUR J. KLEIN, 

EXECUTIVE SECRETARY. NATIONAL UNIVERSITY 
EXTENSION ASSOCIATION. 





WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1920 



"'■^^r^rii 




DEPARTMENT OF Ti^E INTERIOR 

BUREAU OF EDUCATION 



BULLETIN, 1920, No. 10 



CORRESPONDENCE STUDY IN 

UNIVERSITIES AND 

COLLEGES 



By 

ARTHUR J. KLEIN, 

EXECUTIVE SECRETARY. NATIONAL UNIVERSITY 
EXTENSION ASSOCIATION. 




WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 
1920 



1 / 



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ADDITIONAL COPIES 

OF THIS rUBUCATION MA.Y BE PROCTJEED FKOM 

THE SCn?ERnsrTENDENT OF DOCTOIENTS 

GOTERNISIENT PRINTING OFFICE 

■WASHINGTON, D. C. 

AT 

10 CENTS PER COPY 



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CONTENTS. 



Page. 

Letter of transmittal ^ 4 

Purpose of the bulletin 5' 

Educational institutions conducting correspondence study 6 

The correspondence study method 8 

The general plan of correspondence worli , 9 

Individual character of correspondence study__ 10 

Correspondence study as a method of group instruction 10 

Types of correspondence study courses 11 

The forms of correspondence courses 12 

Length of courses and of lessons 13 

Admission to correspondence courses 13 

High-school and college entrance courses 15 

Noncredit courses ■. 15 

Subjects given by correspondence 10 

Correspondence students . 17 

Previous educational preparation 18 

Age of students 20 

Sex distribution 20 

Vocational distribution 21 

Causes for dropping the work 22 

Geographical distribution 23 

Number of students 24 

Cost to the student 25 

Period for completion of courses 27 

Amount of work permitted at one time , 27 

Loan of books and material 27 

Correspondence students in residence work 28 

Basis for credit 29 

Teacher credits _* .- 30 

Postgraduate credit 31 

Transfer of credits 31 

Scholarships 32 

Conclusion 33 

3 



LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. 



Department of the Interior, 

Bureau of Education, 

Washington^ D. C, November 29, 1919. 
Sir: A very large and important part of the extension work of 
universities, colleges^ and departments of education is done through 
correspondence, thus giving to large numbers of men and women 
who can not go to college or attend set courses of lectures an oppor- 
tunity to profit by well-directed reading and study and by scholarly 
criticism. To make it possible for all educational extension agencies 
to profit by the experience of those which have done most in this 
particular line of work, I recommend that the manuscript trans- 
mitted herewith be published as a bulletin of the Bureau of Educa- 
tion. It was prepared at my request by Dr. Arthur J. Klein, now 
executive secretary of the National University Extension Associa- 
tion, and formerly associate director of the Educational Extension 
Division of this Bureau. 
Respectfully submitted. 

P. P. Claxton, 
, Commissioner. 

The Secretary of the Interior. 
4 



THE NEED FOR CORRESPONDENCE STUDY SERVICE. 



Outside university walls, and often within them, the charge is 
freely bandied about that the universities have too little to offer the 
world ; .that higher education has made for itself a little '' other 
world in the skies." Critics who are more fair and better informed 
recognize that the university is a great reservoir of information and 
of help immeasurably valuable to the commercial, industrial, and 
governmental worlds. The fundamental defect is that work, busi- 
ness, the ties of active life in home communities, prevent the people 
who need the resources of the university from coming to the campus 
for what they want, and in too many cases the university has had no 
means of delivering its service at the doors of these potential students. 

Commercial correspondence schools have proved by their pros- 
perity and the testimonials of students whose means of livelihood 
have been increased and whose lives have been enriched by corre- 
spondence study that there are many people unable to attend insti- 
tutions of higher learning who desire education and are willing to 
pay for it. Yet the fact that many of our great universities have 
adopted correspondence instruction as one means of serving the 
needs of those who can not come to the campus has not destroyed 
suspicion of the correspondence study method. 

Men trained in judgment and jealous of the integrity of education 
have sometimes failed to examine the merits of the correspondence 
method, although the great popular demand for this form of home 
instruction would seem to be entitled to satisfaction at the hands of 
reputable institutions. Thousands can in no other way obtain the 
benefits of highei: education. Lack of means, ill health, family or 
social duties, business, and the necessity of earning a living entirely 
prevent a large proportion of the people from attending schools. 
This method of instruction should not be rejected, therefore, with- 
out the most convincing reasons. 

PURPOSE OF THIS BULLETIN. 

It is the purpose of this bulletin to report some of the facts con- 
cerning the extent of the use of this method of instruction by repu- 
table institutions, to describe the educational service thus rendered, 
and to show how these institutions carry on the work in such a way 

that its educational value can not be questioned. 

5 



6 CORKESPONDElSrCE STUDY 

EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS CONDUCTING CORRESPONDENCE 

STUDY. 

Few educators realize the number of State-supported and pri- 
vately endowed educational institutions of the highest type which 
have adopted correspondence study as one means of extending their 
educational service. The following Ust of such institutions was 
compiled from reports, announcements, and letters collected by the 
division of educational extension in the United States Bureau of 
Education. Doubtless it is incomplete, but the extent of the list and 
the character of the institutions which have adopted the method 
serve to emphasize the present importance of correspondence study 
in the educational life of the Nation. 

Alabama ' Agricultural and Mechanical College, Normal. 

Arizona: University of Arizona. 

Arkansas University of Arkansas. 

California University of California. 

Humboldt State Normal School, xlrcata. 
Colorado University of Colorado. 

Colorado State Teachers' College. 

Colorado Normal School. 
District of Columbia— Howard University. 
Florida University of Florida. 

Florida State CoUege for Womeo 

Georgia State Normal School, Athens. 

Idaho University of Idaho. 

Normal, Albion. 

Normal, Lewiston. 

Illinois University of Cliicago. 

Indiana Indiana University. 

Goshen College. 
Iowa University of loAva. 

Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. 

Drake University. , 

Des Moines College. 
Kansas University of Kansas. 

Kansas State Agricultural College. 

Kansas State Normal School. 

Kentucky University of Kentucky. 

Louisiana Louisiana State Normal College, Natchitoches. 

Maine ..University of Maine. 

■ Maryland Maryland State College, 

Massachusetts University Extension Department of the State Board of 

Education. 

Massachusetts Agricultural College. 

Massachusetts State Normal, North Adams. 

Michigan .Michigan State Normal, Ypsilanti. 

Minnesota University of Minnesota. 

Mississippi Mississippi Agricultural College. 

Missouri University of Missouri. 

State Normal School, Cape Girardeau. 



IN UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES. 7 

Montana University of Montana. 

Montana State School of Mines. 

Nebraska University of Nebraslca. 

New Mexico University of New Mexico. 

New Mexico Normal University. 
New York Cornell University. 

Columbia University. 

New York University. 
North Carolina University of North Carolina. 

North Carolina Industrial College. 

North Dakota ^University of North Dakota. 

Oklahoma University of Oklahoma. 

Central State Normal School. 

Northwestern State Normal School. 

Oregon University of Oregon. 

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania State College. 

University of Pittsburgh. 

Rhode Island Rhode Island State College. 

South Dakota University of South Dakota. 

Tennessee University of Tennessee. 

George Peabody College. 
Texas University of Texas. 

Baylor University. 

Howard Payne College. 

Westminster College. 

Southwestern University. 
Utah University of Utah. 

Utah Agricultural College. 
Washington University of Washington. 

Washington State College. 

State Normal School, Bellingham, Wash. 

West Virginia West Virginia University. 

Wisconsin University of Wisconsin. 

State Normal, Steven's Point. 

State Normal School, Platteville. 
Wyoming University of Wyoming. 

It will be noted that correspondence work is conducted by non- 
commercial institutions in 39 States and the District of Columbia. 
In all these States except one work is conducted by State-supported 
institutions. Of the 73 institutions listed, 61 are supported by pub- 
lic funds; 12 are privately endowed. These facts alone would be 
sufficient justification for the publication by the United States Bu- 
reau of Education of a report upon correspondence study and should 
also serve to indicate to professional schools of education the neces- 
sity for further careful study and investigation of the extent, 
methods, and purposes of this form of adult instruction. As in other 
activities of educational institutions, the war resulted in the reduc- 
tion of the correspondence work of some institutions and prevented 
the normal growth in this line. Post-war demand for the continued 
education of adults will doubtless cause a remarkable growth, how- 



'8 COEEESPOIsTDElSrCE STUDY 

i 

k 

ever, both in the variety of work offered and in the number of insti- 
tutions conducting correspondence study courses. 

THE CORRESPONDENCE STUDY METHOD. 

Much of the correspondence work carried on by educational insti- 
tutions is known by other names. These names have sometimes been 
applied in deference to the conservatism and prejudices of trustees 
and faculties ; in other cases they continue to be applied to types of 
work which originally were not, but have now developed into cor- 
respondence study. " Home study courses," reading courses, and 
club study courses are names that have been used to avoid the use 
of the term " correspondence course " and to indicate special appli- 
cations of the correspondence study method. 

These attempts to find other names are commendable. The essen- 
tial characteristic of correspondence study is not the" fact that it is 
instruction by mail; that is in many cases merely incidental. The 
correspondence method has been tried in resident instruction with 
results which indicate that the ordinary methods of class instruction' 
may in some degree be displaced profitably by further application 
of the correspondence method. Indeed, the correspondence method 
has always been used in resident instruction in certain subjects and 
in many cases no other methpd is possible. English composition, for 
instance, can not be taught in any other way than by correspondence- 
study methods. 

It is not, then, the intervention of the postal system which gives 
to correspondence study its virtue. The method of instruction is 
the essential thing. It may or may not be applied through the 
mails. The chief characteristics of the method are constant efforts 
by the student and correction by the teacher. As ordinarily applied 
in correspondence study, the method consists of the assignment by 
the instructor of definitely planned work, the writing out by the 
student of the results of his work, the correction and criticism by 
the instructor of the written lessons, and the suggestion and assist- 
ance upon points where the student needs such special help. The 
student is tested on the whole of every lesson. He not only recites 
the entire lesson, but reduces it to writing, so that any error may 
be detected and corrected. The criticism by the instructor is also 
clearly and definitely written. No slipshod or evasive work, no 
bluffing, is possible for student or for instructor. The hard grind 
which such methods require from students is such an ever-present 
fact, so much a part of correspondence study and so seldom found 
in class work, that this method of working is more truly than postal , 
transmission the essential feature of correspondence study. 



IlSr UNTVEKSITIES AND COLLEGES. 9 

THE GENERAL PLAN OF CORRESPONDENCE WORK. 

Few people who have not taken or taught correspondence courses 
are familiar with the methods and processes of conducting the work. 
Naturally a large proportion of the opponents of the method ara 
of this group. J. W. Scroggs, director of extension, University of 
Oklahoma, says : 

Diligent inquiry has failed to find a single instance where a competent, con- 
Bcientious instructor has faithfully taught the same subject both in class and 
by correspondence who does not find words of commendation for correspond- 
ence study. Many testify to getting better results by correspondence teach- 
ing than in class instruction. Advanced students are competent witnesses and 
their testimony is overwhelmingly favorable. 

For those who have not had opportunity to become familiar with 
the methods of conducting correspondence study, a brief description 
of the practice ordinarily followed will be of assistance in under- 
standing why those who have had experience with it are so gen- 
erally convinced that correspondence study is a method worthy of 
a place in our great institutions, and, if conducted by them, a device 
of the highest educational value. 

An abstract of the rules suggested by the University of Utah 
for regulating the preparation and teaching of correspondence 
courses presents clearly the general plan and method of correspond- 
ence work. 

REGULATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH CONCERNING 
CORRE^ONDENCE COURSES. 

The plans for all correspondence courses shall be outlined by the depart- 
ment concerned and shall be approved by the director of extension work at 
the beginning of the courses. The general plans shall contain: (1) A concise 
statement of the purpose and nature of the course; (2) general instruction 
concerning the entire course in sufficient detail to make perfectly clear to the 
student the nature of the work that he will be expected to do; (3) explanatory 
notes concerning required and recommended textbooks, with instructions as 
to where they may he secured and at what prices; and any other explanations 
that may be useful to the student in beginning the course. A little clear in- 
struction at the beginning may save days of waiting later on in the course. ' 

Every lesson must be carefully and clearly outlined. A lesson plan should 
contain : (1) The name and number of the course and the number of the lesson ; 
(2) a statement of the topic or topics that will be covered in the lesson; (3) 
a statement of the required readings for tlie lesson, references being made 
specifically by chapters or pages; (4) a clear statement of any supplementary 
readings that the instructor may wish to recommend; (5) explanatory notes 
and special instructions that apply to this particular lesson and that are not 
covered in the general instructions mentioned under 2 and 3. The instructor 
may save hours of the student's time and increase the efficiency of the course 
100 per cent by carefully preparing this division ; (6) questions or exercises to 
test the student's understanding of the work assigned. These exercises must 
170259°— 20 2 



10 COREESPOITDEl^CE STUDY 

be clear and full and free from ambiguity. They must not be a mere test of 1 
the memory of the textbook material, but they must be of such a nature aa ' 
to require reflective thinking based upon the Information gained from the 
reading. They may be either in the nature of questions or of problems. 

After preparing for recitation on a given lesson the student writes his an- 
swers to the questions and mails them to the extension division of the Uni- 
versity of Utah, together with a statement of any difficulties that may have 
arisen during his study. The instructor, after receiving a recitation paper, 
shall within 48 hours, if possible, correct the same and return it to the ex- 
tension division. In case the pap^r be unsatisfactory, he may require the 
student to rewrite all or any portion of it. His criticisms shall be clear and 
his directions for revision shall be definite and free from ambiguity. 

INDIVIDUAL CHARACTER OF CORRESPONDENCE STUDY. 

Correspondence study is an individual method of instruction, al- 
most the only one now practiced on any large scale. Except in cor- 
res|)ondence study, individual instruction has given place to the class 
method save for the favored few who are a.ble to meet the higher 
cost of private teaching. 

In correspondence study each student receives continuous individ- 
ual attention and assistance to meet his special needs throughout 
the course. It therefore serves not only as a practical resort when 
intensive study is required, but may in many cases be actually prefer'- 
able to any other method within reach. The cost of correspondence 
study to the student can be kept low because by this device the prepa- 
ration of the course material, the services of the instructor, and the 
supervision of the work are not, as in private tutoring, given to one 
individual but to a number. It thus preserves many of the economies 
of the class method without losing the personal character of individ- 
ual instruction. 

CORRESPONDENCE STUDY AS A METHOD OF GROUP 



Because it also serves as a means whereby persons at a distance 
from the institution and the instructor may be efficiently taught, 
several attempts have been made to conduct classes by the correspon- 
dence method. Such attempts have been called by various names. 
Group or club study classes are names commonly applied. The es- 
sential thing in each case is the written assignment of lessons, writ- 
ing the results of study, and the correction and return of the written 
work to those who have undertaken the course. When such classes 
are made up of groups of students enrolled individually and working 
individually in a single correspondence course, and meeting at set 
periods for the purpose of discussing their work, the club or group 
correspondence course promises a large measure of effective service. 



IlSr UNIVEKSITIES AND COLLEGES. 11 

Equally successful is the correspondence study group which meets 
periodically with an instructor or advisor trained in the work they 
have undertaken. Less successful is the group study class of a more 
heterogeneous kind in which one or two members attempt to qualify 
as leaders and instructors of the group by means of the lessons, papers, 
and criticisms of the correspondence course. There is further need 
for experiment and investigation in adapting the correspondence 
method to group study when no qualified instructor meets with the 
group. This bulletin is primarily concerned with correspondence 
study as a means of individual instruction. 

TYPES OF CORRESPONDENCE STUDY COURSES. 

Correspondence students in general are serious persons, not child- 
ish in years or mind. Most of them are adults. The small minority 
of minors are old for their years, capable of learning and eager to 
learn. But irrespective of age and purpose there is the widest 
diversity in previous general training, in ability to study, in intel- 
lectual maturity, and in preparation for work in specific subjects. 
The problems of preparing courses which will meet the needs of 
students so earnest and yet with such diversity of character and 
preparation are numerous. University professors were for a long 
time convinced that they could not be solved. But the work of the 
commercial correspondence schools and the fact that universities ate 
actually doing correspondence work with great success make pos- 
sible a simple statement of some of the principles upon which suc- 
cessful correspondence courses are prepared. 

Both elementary and university correspondence study courses fall 
into two main groups determined by their purpose. In the first 
group are courses which aim to communicate definite information 
rather than to develop intellectual power. In the second group are 
courses which aim to develop the mind of the student rather than 
to communicate a definite body of facts. For convenience, the first 
group may be termed informational courses, the second instructional. 
Informational courses do to a certain extent, of course, develop in- 
tellectual power. Instructional courses may impart much direct in- 
formation, but the fundamental distinction in general purpose re- 
mains. 

Informational courses stand as units, each complete in itself and 
related, if at all, only to the general field of the subject matter. They 
are frequently unrelated bodies of information presented to students 
with little regard for the student's intellectual needs or past and 
, future training. Sometimes they are mere intertainment, but com- 
monly they serve to supply the information needed to accomplish 
a definite, limited task or practical object. 



12 CORKESPONDENCE STUDY 

1 

Instructional courses aim to develop power rather than to convey 
information. Thej are possible in practically all subjects and the 
end of all such courses is the same. They do not present a mere 
body of names, dates, or facts. They try to develop clear observa- 
tion, accurate expression, ability to choose main topics from develop- 
ing details, power to arrange materials according to a logical plan, 
skill in drawing sound conclusions from given facts, and faculty for 
developing general statements by specific instances, definitions, and 
comparisons. 

THE FORMS OF CORRESPONDENCE COURSES. 

Informational and instructional correspondence courses of both 
elementary and university grade have in practice taken three main 
forms : 

I. The courses made up of assignments in a textbook. The student 
is told to read a certain portion of the book and then to write the 
answers to the given questions. The lesson is simply a list of ques- 
tions to be answered or topics to be discussed. 

II. The course made up of textbook assignments supplemented by 
additional material. For a certain assignment the student is told to 
read a portion of the text and then to study the supplementary ma- 
terial before writing his answers. 

III. The course made up of specially prepared lessons requiring 
no textbook. Reference books may or may not be required. The 
student receives one specially prepared assignment containing -all 
that he must study before writing his answers. 

The first type, made up primarily of textbooks and questions, serves 
well with the most elementary and the most advanced students. The 
most important opportunity for teaching in this kind of course is th^ 
correction and criticism of the student's paper. Lack of the personal 
element is the greatest defect of this type of correspondence course. 
The printed text is impersonal, but the criticism which is aimed at 
him individually may serve to create the personal relationship and 
to maintain interest in the course. 

Better for most students than the course with the textbook alone is 
the course with text supplemented by additional material for each 
assignment. Such courses may be changed or supplemented from 
time to time as experience with a large number of students indicates 
to the instructor the passages in the text that need explanation and 
illustration. The additional material is directly related to the ques- 
tions asked or the topics given for discussion. It serves to make the 
student feel that something is being done for him personally. 

Apparently, however, the best course for correspondence work is 
that which furnishes the student separate typed or mimeographed 



IN UNIVEESITIES AND COLLEGES. 13 

lessons containing all the material to be studied.. This kind of course 
has four distinct advantages — it permits the instructor to avoid the 
puzzling things of a textbook and to develop his subject with refer- 
ence to the needs and the methods of study of a particular class of 
students ; it permits the instructor to change or modify the lessons as 
tlie need for change or modification becomes apparent ; it permits the 
student to work easily in his spare time ; it makes the student feel that 
he is getting individual attention and instruction, that the lesson has 
been prepared especially for him. Experience has shown that few 
students who enroll in a course of the third type fail to finish their 
work. 

LENGTH OF COURSES AND OF LESSONS. 

University extension divisions have found that the safest general 
rule in preparing correspondence courses is to make the courses as 
short as is consistent with unity and the lessons not so long that the 
average student needs more than an hour or an hour and a half to 
master each lesson. 

For sustained interest in a correspondence course it is essential 
that the student send in his papers for criticism frequently and that 
the corrected work be returned to him promptly. This is not pos- 
sible when lessons are so long that it takes weeks to finish the work 
and write the answer paper. The student in residence may escape 
the burden of overlong assignments and lessons by letting the work 
go. He is not dropped from a course because he does not do every 
day's work. The correspondence study student can not thus regu- 
late the amount of work he finds it possible to do. If he can not 
finish up a lesson within a reasonably brief time, the tendency is 
for him to drop out entirely. Experience has proved also that when 
a course of 56 lessons is broken into two courses of 28 lessons each, 
a larger proportion of students will complete the two courses than 
would finish the longer course. Comparatively short courses broken 
into a large number of brief lessons induce students to complete the 
work and to register for new courses. 

ADMISSION TO CORRESPONDENCE COURSES. 

The character and number of correspondence students are con- 
trolled by the terms laid down by the institutions for admission to 
the courses. The conditions actually imposed are determined by 
academic traditions and by the special purposes for which corre- 
spondence work is undertaken by the institution. "WTien correspond- 
ence work is regarded or intended primarily as a means of affording 
persons who can not become resident students an opportunity to 
obtain college or university credit, satisfaction of the usual require- 



14 CORKESPOITDENCE STUDY 

ments for college entrance is demanded before credit is granted. Yet, 
in the case of credit courses, many institutions have violated aca- 
demic conventions under the incentive of keen desire to render 
service by meeting the needs of those who have not had the previous 
educational training ordinarily demanded. Training and instruc- 
tion rather than the acquisition of credit units are regarded as of 
prime importance. Students who can not satisfy the college entrance 
requirements or who do not wish to obtain formal credit for the 
work done may be admitted upon the presentation of evidence, other 
than previous education, of ability to carry the work profitably and 
successfully. 

In resident college work in the past a strong emphasis has been 
placed both by. the institution and the students upon grades, credits, 
formal and artificial norms of work, rather than upon the acquisi- 
tion of informational and intellectual equipment. A large percent- 
age of special students, however capable and however earnest in their 
educational purposes, has been regarded as lowering the standard 
of an institution. Correspondence study reverses this estimate. It 
believes that its service is more adequately measured and rendered 
more valuable by the number of students who pursue college courses 
for the training and the information they afford than by the number 
who take corresj^ondence courses for the sake of obtaining credit 
toward degrees. The number of students, therefore, who carry cor- 
respondence courses of college grade without receiving or desiring 
college credit for the work, even when college credit may be given, 
is a truer measure of educational service than the number who carry 
the work for the definite purpose of obtaining credit. 

For this reason institutions commonly make admission to corre- 
spondence courses of college grade easy for students who show evi- 
dence of serious purpose. No preliminary examination is required. 
An application blank is provided for giving full information con- 
cerning the student's purpose in undertaking the work, his training 
and experience, age, occupation, and access to library facilities. If 
his purpose is the acquisition of college credit, he is required to state 
the fact and the ordinary requirements will then have to be satisfied. 
But if he does not desire credit, the data given upon the blank will 
indicate whether it will be possible for him to carry the work. If a 
mistake is made in the initial choice of course, or in admission to 
work which the student is not capable of carrying, the error is easily 
detected and every facility for proper adjustment is afforded. 

In residence study such mistakes are hard to correct. An indulgent 
teacher or a friendly classmate may encourage a student to carry 
through in a half-hearted and halting way the work he has under- 
taken. Change of courses after work has started is unusually dis- 
couraged by a whole barbed-wire entanglement of university regula- 



IN UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES. 15 

tions. In correspondence study there is no such opportunity for con- 
cealment and slipshod work. The student can not hide under the 
wing of a class group. Every correspondence student is tested from 
the start upon every phase of his work. He stands upon his own 
pedestal fi-om the beginning. If the work he has undertaken is 
not suited to his capacities or needs, the fact is soon revealed, and he 
is encouraged and even required to change to a course that he is able 
to carry profitably. This can be done because it is possible for the 
correspondence student at any time to take a fresh start at the begin- 
ning of the more suitable course ; he need not plunge into a class that 
has already been at work for weeks or months. 

Desire to serve adults and others who are not resident students of 
an institution has not been manifested alone by opening regular col- 
lege courses given by correspondence to students who can not satisfy 
college entrance requirements. Courses especially prepared to meet 
educational needs rather than academic requirements are becoming 
increasingly abundant. 

HIGH-SCHOOL AND COLLEGE-ENTRANCE COURSES. 

For the benefit of those who wish high-school training for its own 
sake or to satisfy college-entrance requirements, many institutions 
offer high-school courses by correspondence. Such courses are given 
under conditions intended to encourage attendance of the regular 
high school if attendance is possible. Students enrolled in high school 
are not permitted to take these courses during the regular session, 
nor are they permitted to take them during the summer vacation 
without the consent of the superintendent or principal. In some cases 
not more than one-half of the credits required for graduation from 
high school or for entrance to the higher educational institution can 
be taken by correspondence. In other cases all of the work required 
for admission may be taken by correspondence. Minors are some- 
times excluded from these courses unless the local high-school prin- 
cipal specifically recommends admission. In a few cases students who 
satisfactorily complete courses of college grade without having satis- 
fied the entrance requirements are permitted to use this work to 
reduce the number of preparatory units required. 

NONCREDIT COURSES. 

But even more important than the opportunities offered to take 
college courses and college preparatory courses is the educational 
service rendered through courses designed to meet practical needs 
without reference to the academic grade of the work. Under the 
conditions of admission to courses of college and high-school grade 
any of these may serve those who feel the practical need of such 



16 CORRESPOlirDElSrCB STUDY 

work, but in addition to these courses constantly increasing provision 
is made for courses planned especial^ to serve the requirements of 
those who need instruction in special phases of their work. 

The courses range in grade from courses on the use of the slide 
rule and the rules of punctuation to courses in bacteriology for prac- 
ticing physicians and courses in the theory of the functions of a real 
variable for mathematics professors. Courses for health officers, for 
visiting nurses, courses in drawing, bird study, cost accounting, draft- 
ing, art appreciation, making income-tax returns, these are only a 
few of the noncredit courses which are primarily intended to serve 
practical needs. This field is capable of almost indefinite expansion. 
There are aspects of every employment and occupation in which the 
need for special instruction is constantlj?^ felt by those engaged in the 
work. 

SUBJECTS GIVEN BY CORRESPONDENCE. 

Correspondence study advocates do not maintain that all kinds of 
courses can be given by correspondence. Courses that require large 
laboratory equipment, courses in which the discussion is the funda- 
mental element of the instruction can in few cases be given success- 
fully by correspondence^ The range of subjects thus excluded is, 
however, not so large as some of the opponents of the correspondence 
method would have us believe. 

Practically all of the courses given in colleges and high schools 
and many that are not can be and are taught by correspondence. 
Much of this work can be done to better advantage by correspond- 
ence than in residence. For example, in research work the resident 
student must make investigations and reports. For this class of 
work the ending of the classroom hour and the fact that the work 
must be completed by a fixed date makes correspondence study far 
more reasonable and practicable. It is impossible to parcel out such 
work into 50-minute periods or terms of fixed length, and for the 
highest grades of educational work correspondence study methods 
are "universally used. 

The dean of one of our graduate schools says that if he were entirely free 
to act without regard to other universities he would not only permit but would 
require that at least six hours of the work required for the master's degree 
be taken by correspondence. Work of that kind can be made wider in its 
scope and of a higher quality than it is possible to secure in the classroom. 
There is no limit to the thoroughness and extent of the work which may be 
demanded and secured by correspondence study ; its methods permit the utmost 
that can be required.^ 

For those wishing intensive study in a single branch or two, class- 
room work is not adapted. Students must often take three or four 

^ J. W. Scroggs, director of university extension, University of Oklalioma. 



IN" UNIVERSITIES AXD COLLEGES. 17 

studies to get the one they wish ; -they must not go faster than the 
class and the work must be managed in the interest of the group, not 
the individual. This makes correspondence study especially desir- 
able for those who wish instruction in special subjects allied to their 
everyday life. The correspondence course permits them to select 
■what will serve their purposes without doing work that to them 
is useless or an old story, although required by the courses planned 
for group instruction. 

A class always holds some students back and drags others on too fast ; no 
two minds are exactly alike or require exactly the same ti'eatment. A class 
is often a Procrustes bed to which students can not be adjusted without doing 
violence to individual needs and talents. Correspondence study, being strictly 
individual instruction, has for many students advantages of adaptability and 
efficiency. 

A very incomplete list of subjects taught by correspondence in a 
few institutions has been compiled and will be found in the appendix 
to this bulletin. Reference to it or to the announcement of corre- 
spondence courses of any institution offering general correspondence 
courses will make clearer than a long description of the range of the 
work how extensive are the opportunities offered b}'^ correspondence 
work. 

CORRESPONDENCE STUDENTS. 

Studies of the actual enrollment of students in correspondence 
work will show the kind of students the courses are designed to reach. 
Unfortunately, very few extension divisions have made sufficiently 
detailed compilations of data to enable us to present as complete 
information as is desirable. 

PURPOSES OF ENROLLMENT. 

Many of those who have had extensive experience with corre- 
spondence study work have stated that a large proportion of the 
students take the work for definite practical purposes, but the study 
made by the extension department of the Massachusetts Board of 
Education is the only attempt known to the writer in which this 
impression has been demonstrated by tabulation of the students' 
enrollment blanks. This study was made from the records of 1,200 
correspondence students. The figure here reproduced shows graphi- 
cally the results of the study. 

It will be noted that approximately 30 per cent enrolled in order 
to increase efficiency in their present work and that almost 22 per 
cent enrolled in the hope of adA^ancement in position and salary. In 
other words, over half of the students were seeking immediate prac- 

170259°— 20 3 



18 



CORKESPONDENCE STUDY 



tical aid when they began correspondence study. Of those who 
entered to prepare for civil service, college, and other courses, 23.5 
per cent of the total, many obviously had practical benefits in mind. 
Only 22 per cent began the work from motives of culture or enjoy- 
ment, while less than 1 per cent had definitely altruistic purpose, 



DISTRIBUTION ACCORDING TO 

(Corresporidenoe Courses) 



laoo 

flOO 
(000 
QOO 
600 
700 



500 
400 
300 
200 
100 

o 



■-^1 e^ 



p 



2 



XT 






rg 

-^==^ 



CO 









^ 



b 
n 






-<e- 



b 






u 



ttj a. 



z^ o 






o 



'£ 






9 






356 




£67 



II I 



> 

a. 






9 

"V"l '-'7**^ 



social service. These figures show unmistakably that the service 
rendered by correspondence work appeals to those who seek help in 
their everyday life. 

PREVIOUS EDUCATIONAL PREPARATION, 

The same study shows that 34 per cent of the students had previous 
elementary education only, 49 per cent secondary education, 8 per 
cent collegiate, 8 per cent professional, 1.8 per cent private school, 



IN" TTNIVEESITIES AND COLLEGES. 



19 



3 per cent vocational, and 4.6 per cent evening school education. The 
figures given by the Massachusetts State Normal School at North 
Adams show a somewhat different percentage, as was to be expected 
from the specialized character of the work, drawing its students in 
large part from the teaching class. Of the 267 correspondence stu- 



DISTRIBUTION ACCORDING 
TO PREVIOUS EDUCATION 



Number 

1200 

MOO 

1000 

900 

800 

700 

600 

500 

400 

300 

aoo 

100 

o 



(Correspondence Courses) 



^ 
^ 
4 



1 












i^ 



Q 



^ 



g 



S. 

u^ 



49% 




(.oy. 10% 0.3% 



A.6% 



dents of the State Normal School, 8, or 3 per cent, were college 
graduates; 18, or slightly less than 7 per cent, had some college 
undergraduate training; 35, or about 13 per cent, were normal- 
school graduates ; 63, or 23.5 per cent, were undergraduates of nor- 
mal school ; while 142, or 53 per cent, were graduates of public high 
schools only. Only 1 was a graduate of a private academy. 



20 COEEESPOlSI-DElvrCE STUDY 

The following table from the report of the dean of the extension 
division of the University of Wisconsin for the biennial period 
ending July 1, 1914, shows the experience in" that institution : 

Gorrespond&itce study student preparation. 

1912-13. 1913-14. 

Number of students below the sixth grade 35 52 

Number of students attained the sixtli grade 42 51 

Number of students attained the seventh grade 112 99 

Number of students attained the eighth grade 441 513 

Number of students graduated from high scliool 331 442 

Number of students attained business college _ 145 158 

Number of students attained or graduated from normal school- 102 169 

Number of students attained college 282 316 

Number of students attained or graduated from college 318 243 

Number of students giving no data — 612 596 

Of the 2,119 students reporting in 1912-13, 630, or slightly over 
29 per cent, had elementary training only; 642, about the same per 
cent, had taken part or all of a high-school course; 560, or 26 per 
cent, had all or some part of a college course. 

The figures for 1913-14 show a larger proportion of high-school 
students or graduates — 35 per cent instead of 29 per cent — while the 
number of college students and graduates falls off slightly. 

AGE OF STUDENTS. 

That correspondence study is distinctly a method adapted to adult 
education is proved by studies of the age distribution of correspond- 
ence students. The study already quoted of the records of 1,200 cor- 
respondence students made by the Massachusetts Extension Depart- 
ment shows that 911, or 76 per cent, of the students were beyond 
school or college age. Of the 55 still of high-school age, 41 were 
employed in gainful occupations and 14 were pupils taking cor- 
respondence work to supplement their regular school work. The 
average age was 26.3 years. Two hundred and sixty- four, or 22 per 
cent of the entire group,. were between 22 and 25 years. The results 
obtained from studies of the ages of correspondence students in the 
University of Wisconsin, Indiana University, and other institutions 
differ little from those obtained in Massachusetts. 

SEX DISTRIBUTION. 

In this connection sex distribution presents some interesting fea- 
tures : 

The number of women in each of the groups between 18 and 45 years of age 
is much more constant than the number of men in the same groups. Further- 
more, the percentage of women in each group tends to increase with advancing 
years, while the percentage of men in each group correspondingly decreases. 



IlSr UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES. 



21 



This is the case up to the age of 45 ; after that the curve of percentages be- 
comes uncertain and negligible because the number in each group is so small 
that the addition of one or two to either sex unduly affects the percentage. The 
tabulations, therefore, appear to indicate that among women of all ages the 
demand for correspondence courses is more evenly distributed than among 
men. Among men, interest and activity in extension work reaches its high 
point between the ages of 22 and 25, but wanes very noticeably after the 
thirtieth year. (Massachusetts report.) 

Somewhat more unexpected is the fact that the ntmiber of male 
registrants far exceeds the number of women. The following figures 
taken from the Massachusetts study show the distribution between 
the sexes in various subjects: 



Courses. 



Men. 



Women. 



Engineering 

Civil service 

Bookkeeping and business arithmetic 

Accoimttag 

Stenography and typewriting 

Business organization 

Commercial correspondence 

Applied mathematics 

Unapi'Iied mathematics 

Household economics 

Education 

History, civics, economics 

Elementary Enghsh 

Advanced JSngllsh 

Foreign language 

Drawing (mostly mechanical) 

Total 



149 


10 


77 


15 


80 


19 


26 


3 


7 


14 


35 


1 


10 


1 


121 
57 




8 


3 


28 


4 


5 


16 


11 


156 


71 


24 


61 


27 


41 


120 


10 



912 



Of the 1,200 registrants 76 per cent were men, 14 per cent women. 
In only five of the 16 subjects — stenography and typewriting, house- 
hold economics, education, advanced English, and foreign language — 
did the number of women exceed the number of men. In the Uni- 
versity of Nebraska in 1917-18, 60 per cent were men, 40 per cent 
women. The registration of men and women in the correspondence 
courses of the University of North Dakota was evenly divided in 
1918-19. War conditions doubtless contributed in this case to reduce 
the number of male and to increase the number of female students. 
In the University of Oklahoma the preponderance of men over women 
persists, the percentages being 62 and 38 per cent, respectively. 

VOCATIONAL DISTRIBUTION. 



The occupations of correspondence students include practically 
every field of human endeavor. During the biennium 1914-1916, 317 
different vocations were represented in the enrollment of corre- 
spondence students in the University of Wisconsin. The registration 
of correspondence students of the University of Oregon, by occupa- 
tions, in 1918, which follows, shows that over half were teachers, fol- 



22 



CORRESPONDElSrCE STUDY 



lowed in the order of number by soldiers, housekeepers, farmers, 
stenographers, and clerks. 



University of Oregon — Registration of students ty occupations. 



Agriculturist 

Artist 

Attorney 

Bookkeeper 

Civil engineer 

Clerk 

Construction worker 

County treasurer-: _ 

Dentist 

Draftsman 

Farmer . 

Film operator 

Homesteader 

Housekeeper 

Jeweler's assistant 

Laborer 

Letter carrier 

Lineman 

Load dispatcher, P. R. L. 

Lumberman 

Merchant 

Mill mechanic 



& P 



1 
1 

2 
1 
X 
8 
1 
1 
1 
4 

12 
1 
1 

27 
1 
2 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 



Minister 

Missionary 

Newspaper work 

Nurse 

Pharmacist 

Principal of schools 

Printer , 

Private secretary 

Real-estate broker 

Sawmill employee 

Stenographer 

Street car conductor 

Superintendent of schools. 

Surveyor 

Teacher 

Telephone operator 

Y. M. C. A. secretary 

Writer 

Soldiers 

Occupations not known 



3 

1 
1 
3 

1 

7 

2 

1 

2 

1 

12 

1 

1 

1 

256 

1 

2 

1 

88 

61 



Total- 



566 



The following graph, prepared by the Massachusetts Extension 
Department, shows clearly the relationship between the number of 
persons employed in the State in the occupations named and those 
enrolled for correspondence work in the same occupations: 

CAUSES FOR DROPPING THE WORK. 

With a student body drawn from such diverse elements and so 
largely occupied with the business of getting a living, it is to be 
expected that a large proportion of the registrants will drop out 
before courses are completed. Yet the University of Wisconsin 
found that of 24,555 registrations made in 10 years, 10,492 courses, 
or over 40 per cent, were completed. Since a great number of these 
registrations were still active at the time when the figures were com- 
piled the proportion of final completions will certainly be consider- 
ably increased. That such a large proportion should complete the 
work when study is purely voluntary and so often carried on under 
adverse conditions is a remarkable testimony to the correspondence 
method of instruction. Eeasons assigned by students for not finish- 
ing courses show that such delinquency is often justifiable. The 
course often serves before completion the practical purpose for which 
it was undertaken. Kemoval from the State, ill health, change of 



IN UlSriVEESITIES AND COLLEGES. 



23 



employment, and all the causes which lead resident students to dis- 
continue their work are operative in correspondence study. Dis- 
satisfaction Avith tlie work itself is even less frequently, than in 
resident work of the same grade, the reason for failure to complete it. 



DKTRffiUTIOK ACCORDING TO OCCDEiTION 

^^ STATE CEriSUS-1915 IB PEFAKTriEIiT OF UHIVLRSITY- EXTEHSIOrt 
'" CCorreapbndence Cognscs^ 




GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 

Hervey F. Mallory, secretary of the correspondence study depart- 
ment of the University of Chicago, said in an address before the 
National University Association in 1916: 

Our classroom can be world-wide. Its present bounds are marked by western 
China in the Far East ; Dawson, Fairbanks, and Lodiak Island to the north ; 
Chile to the south ; and Senegal and the Union of South America in the Near 
East. Our constituency embraces college presidents, Government officials, 
representatives of most of the professions and vocations, and those who by 
Btress of circumstances are debarred from the ordinary means of education. 



24 corkespondbjStce study 

A missioBary going to western OMna enrolled for six courses before she left, 
bought her books and equipment, and has begun to send back her reports. 
Teachers everywhere are taking advantage of our courses to increase their 
efficiency, and individuals in lonely places are utilizing them to keep alive 
mentally. 

The same wide geographical distribution is found in the enroll- 
ments of the universities of Wisconsin and of California and in 
several other institutions. A still larger number of institutions have 
correspondence students in every State in the Union. 

But when institutions are supported by public funds the primary 
purpose is service of the home State. The geographical distribu- 
tion of correspondence students within the State is, therefore, es- 
peciall}^ significant. The figures for a few of the State-supported 
institutions are available and show clearly that the service rendered 
by correspondence study is State wide. In Oklahoma the State 
University has correspondence students in every county in the 
State. Indiana University has correspondence students in 53 coun- 
ties; the University of Oregon in 31 counties; the University of 
Washington in 29 counties. The Massachusetts State Normal School 
at North Adams has correspondence students in 85 towns in the 
State; the University of Kansas has students in 238 towns. In 
other departments a large portion of the students of State-supported 
institutions are drawn from the immediate vicinity; in their cor- 
respondence study departments institutions reach out to the most 
remote section with the same ease that they serve those close at hand. 

NUMBERS OF STUDENTS. 

Almost a hundred thousand students are taking work, in whole or 
in part conducted by correspondence, in State-supported and pri- 
vately endowed educational institutions. These figures could easily 
be made ten times as large if institutions were supplied with suffi- 
cient funds to carry on the work.. From the initiation of the work 
practically ail institutions have been handicapped for funds, and 
service has of necessity been incomplete and in some cases not en- 
tirely satisfactory. Yet the growth of registrations has been phe- 
nomenal. The following table shows this growth in the University 
of Kansas since the organization of its correspondence study depart- 
ment in 1909 : 



Eegistration from Sept 
Registration from Sept 
Registration from Sept, 
Eegistration from Sept, 
Registration from Sept 
Registration from Sept, 
Registration from Sept 
Registration from Sept, 
Registration from Sept 



1, 1909, to Sept. 1, 1910 ■ 57 

1, 1910, to Sept. 1, 1911 137 

1, 1911, to Sept. 1, 1912 260 

1, 1912, to Sept. 1, 1913 477 

1, 1913, to Sept. 1, 1914 ^__ 697 

1, 1914, to Sept. 1, 1915 732 

1, 1915, to Sept. 1, 1916 1, 005 

1, 1916, to Sept. 1, 1917 1, 206 

1, 1917, to Sept, 1, 1918 , 1, 373 



IIsT UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES. 25 

COST TO THE STUDENT. 

The cost to these students for correspondence work is not high. 
While it is true that fees charged have been so low as not to cover 
the expense to the institution of carrying on the work, one of the 
chief reasons for imposing them has been the necessity of supple- 
menting available funds. In this way the number of students has 
been kept down, and the institutions have been able to offer the 
work to a greater number. 

An old argument against free public schools has been resurrected 
to combat free correspondence courses. It is maintained that pay- 
ment of fees insures interest and more serious work by the student. 
There is considerable force to the argument, but the results of the free 
correspondence study work which the agricultural colleges are able 
to offer by virtue of Federal subsidies show that the percentage of 
registrants who complete the work is almost as large as in the case of 
fee-restricted courses given by the general educational institutions 
which lack the special benefits of Federal grants for extension work. 

Undoubtedly the fees charged prevent many who desire and need 
correspondence work from enrolling. The correspondence study en- 
rollment of New York State Agricultural College is 25,000; in the 
Massachusetts Department of Education, entirely supported by State 
funds, which are not sufficient to meet the demand and make a wait- 
ing list constantly necessary, the enrollment is less than 7,000. Fed- 
eral encouragement of the general work similar to that given agri- 
cultural extension would undoubtedly enable the general extension 
divisions to give to other classes a service which would bring as great 
transformation to their lives as agricultural extension has brought 
to the farmer. 

T\Tien the salaries of teachers, for instance, are so small that with 
the most careful planning only $5 a year is left for books, study, and 
recreation, even the low fees for correspondence courses will bar them 
from taking advantage of the opportunities the method offers for 
improving their professional training. Many others engaged in the 
grind of earning their livings are debarred by correspondence study 
fees from the additional training which would lift them from the 
dead level and enable them to increase their earnings and the happi- 
ness of their lives and families. Mr. Scroggs, director of the exten- 
sion department in the University of Oklahoma, in another connec- 
tion, has well described the situation. 

From the nmltiplied thousands who can not attend school correspondence 
study is constantly selecting those mth the greater natural ability, ambition, 
and energj' — the ones whom society most needs for its life and progress. It is 
prospecting for genius. It is vain to deplore the tragedy of those who can not 
surmount the obstacles of their environment and at the same time do nothing 



26 CORRESPONDEIsrCE STUDY 

to prevent it. A few Wasliingtons, Lincolns, and Eclisons have had sufficient 
opportunity to force their genius into world notice, but the world has lost the 
services of thousands of equally gifted ones for whom the struggle was too 
hard. The chief significance of correspondence study is the widening of oppor- 
tunity. 

When fees are charged for correspondence study a large propor- 
tion of those who might serve the world with better productive 
force, with greater intelligence, with more complete understanding, 
are condemned to go through life only half men. 

The universities and colleges giving correspondence courses have 
attempted to make payment as easy as possible for those to whom 
the amounts asked mean a real sacrifice. The installment payment 
plan has been adopted quite generally, and reductions of from 10 to 
25 per cent are made when two or more courses are taken simulta- 
neously. But fees have in most cases already been made as low as 
possible, and the possibilities of further privilege are very limited. 

Correction of papers, postage, reproducing the lessons, clerical 
work increase with each additional student. Since the fees paid fail 
to cover all these expenses, with an increasing number of students 
the burden upon the funds of the institution becomes greater. 

The amount of the fee for correspondence courses is determined 
by the other available resources of the institution and by the cost of 
this form of instruction. A common method is to reckon the fee for 
a course upon the basis of so much per lesson or per credit granted. 
This varies from $1 to $8 a credit, and from 30 cents to 70 cents per 
lesson in State-supported institutions. Some charge a flat rate and 
permit the student to carry as much work as he can do. In addition 
to the course fee, an enrollment fee, varying in amount from $1 to $5, 
is charged. This fee is not ordinarily applied toward the matricula- 
tion fee, when one is required, if the student later becomes a resident 
student, nor is a student already matriculated excused from the paj^- 
ment of this enrollment fee if he does part of his work by corre- 
spondence. Students are also required to pay a small fee for exten- 
sion of time when they fail to complete their work within the time 
limits set by the correspondence study regulations. Further, stu- 
dents must pay postage at least one way, and in several institutions 
full postage both ways on manuscripts sent in. Examination fees 
are sometimes asked also. The fees are made as low as possible un- 
der present conditions for residents of the State, but nonresidents 
are charged in most cases an amount 50 per cent greater than the fee 
for residents.^ 

1 For information concerning the use of fees, etc., see Bulletin, 1919, No. 56, of the 
U. S. Bureau of Education : " The Administration of Correspondence Study Depaitmenta 
of Universities and Colleges," by A, J. Klein. 



IlSr UNRT^ESITIES AND COLLEGES. 27 

PERIOD FOR COMPLETION OF COURSES. 

Since one of the essentials to successful correspondence study is 
the prompt return by the student of the written lessons, many insti- 
tutions have set time limits for the completion of a course, and have 
provided that registrations shall lapse when for a long period no 
papers are received from a student. The period commonly allowed 
for completion of a course, depending upon the number of lessons 
in the course, is from 6 to 12 months from the time of registration. 
Provision for extension of this time, similar to the following rules 
laid down by Indiana University, is made by several institutions : 

If a student has not completed a course by the expiration of the year allowed 
him for the work, he may secure a six months' extension of time by obtaining 
the consent of the secretary of the bureau of correspondence study and the in- 
structor concerne(^l and by paying a renewal fee of $2. At the expiration of 
the six months, if the course is not completed, the student will be dropped. 

If a student is unable to complete a course within the prescribed time because 
of attendance at some institution of learning, an extension of time will be 
granted for a period equal to the length of time which the student spends in 
resident study, providing due notice is given to the secretary of the bureau of 
correspondence study at both the beginning and the end of such resident study. 

The University of Wyoming provides that a student who fails to 
answer letters for an interval of six weeks may be considered to have 
withdrawn from the course and another fee may be required for re- 
suming the work. The Universities of Montana, Oklahoma, Chi- 
cago, and Texas provide that failure to send in a lesson for 90 days 
forfeits the student's right to further instruction. 

AMOUNT OF WORK PERMITTED AT ONE TIME. 

Further regulations, designed to assist the student by preventing 
him from assuming too much work, limit the number of corre- 
spondence courses he is permitted to take at one time. The number 
allowed varies somewhat, but three courses is the most that any in- 
stitution permits a student to take simultaneously ; two is the more 
common limit and a few institutions permit a student to carry but 
one course at a time. These restrictions promote concentration of 
effort and make for promptness in the return lessons. 

LOAN OF BOOKS AND MATERIAL. 

While students are in most cases required to purchase their own 
textbooks, drawing outfits, and other material, several institutions 
afford special facilities to correspondence students in the purchase 
or borrowing of the books required and in a few instances lend the 
textbooks for the period of the course. Many have special arrange- 
ments whereby reference books and other material may be bor- 



28 COERESPONDEITCE STUDY 

rowed from the university or college library and from State library 
commissions or local libraries. The extension department of the 
University of California and the State library cooperate closelj?- in 
meeting the book needs of correspondence students.* The extension de- 
partment of the University of Kansas has made arrangement with the 
State traveling libraries commission to furnish reference books in 
loan libraries of 5 to 12 volumes. Package libraries are sometimes 
available in the extension division, which gives excellent service on 
special phases of courses and are loaned to students free of charge.^ 

CORRESPONDENCE STUDENTS IN RESIDENCE WORK. 

It is the common testimony of institutions that students in resi- 
dence who have taken work by correspondence ordinarily rank in 
the upper fourth of their classes. In other words, the average of 
preparation, of earnestness, and of intellectual capacity of corre- 
spondence students, when compared with the average college student 
in residence, is far higher. This undoubtedly is in part due to 
the greater age of correspondence students who take up residence 
work, but the testimony of the students themselves also shows that 
the discipline of correspondence work makes the work in residence 
comparatively easy. The training given by correspondence study 
is so severe that the student who secures his credits by that method 
is superior to the college student who has had only the regular class 
preparatory instruction. But it would be too much to claim that 
correspondence instruction enables a student of mediocre capacity 
to take rank in residence with those of greater intellectual ability, 
although this is undoubtedly true in many cases. The significance 
of the high character of the residence work of correspondence stu- 
dents lies in the fact that correspondence study has served as a 
selective agency, enabling those of good capacity to prepare them- 
selves for college work or to carry on some part of college work 
which they could not have done if it had not been for the opportunity 
afforded by correspondence study. To choose from the great mass 
those who are capable of high-class work is perhaps a greater service 
than the service of enabling those of only fair ability to compete with 
those of great ability. 

Not only do correspondence students who take up residence work 
hold a high rank in scholarship, but the number of correspondence 
students who become residence students is forming an increasingly 
large proportion of residence students who graduate from the higher 
educational institutions. In the University of Indiana, in the gi-adu- 

^ For further information concerning loan of books and materials see TJ. S. Bureau of 
Education, Bulletin, 1919, No. 62 : " Class Extension Work in Universities and Colleges 
of the United States," by A, J, Klein. 



IN UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES. 29 

ating class of 1919, 88 of the candidates for a degree had taken part 
of their work by correspondence study. In the University of Kansas, 
in the fall of 1917^ 36 out of a total of 580 correspondence students 
enrolled in the university. Under the war conditions of 1918 only 
10 enrolled in the university, but eA^en under these adverse conditions 
for the second year, 7.9 per cent of the enrolled correspondence 
students became residence students. Mr. Mallory, secretary of the 
correspondence study department of the University of Chicago, has 
said that — 

For 10 years or more, one out of every five who have entered into student 
relations with tlie university have done so through tlie correspondence study 
depai'tment. Of the total number who have begun with correspondence study 
courses from 18 to 20 per cent have come into residence. Out of the 230 
students who received bachelor degrees, 47 had taken one or more majors by 
correspondence. All of the 47 averaged higher in their course than did their 
classmates. 

To quote from Mr. Mallory's conclusion : 

The significance of these facts will be appreciated sooner or later throughout 
the academic world. That it is coming to be recognized is revealed by the grow- 
ing practice of colleges and universities which do not teach by correspondence 
of advising their students who can not go on in residence to utilize corre- 
spondence study courses in advancing toward their degree. 

BASIS FOR CREDIT. 

The usual basis for college credit in correspondence study work is 
the similar course given in residence. A course of one recitation 
hour per week for one semester is usually the basis upon which 
residence credits are reckoned. Such a course gives one credit. Cor- 
respondence work intended to represent this amount of residence 
work is usually so planned that from 18 to 20 lessons will give this 
credit. These lessons are grouped into assignments. In the Uni- 
versity of Oklahoma 10 or occasionally 8 assignments are equal to 
one credit hour. The Michigan State Normal College includes in 
each assignment the work of one recitation hour in residence. In 
general, these examples represent the practice of the institutions 
which give correspondence work, although the number of lessons and 
assignments varies slightly. 

In residence work it is ordinaril}^ reckoned that for each hour of 
recitation two hours of preparation are required. The University 
of Kansas has sent with its correspondence lessons a questionnaire 
asking the students to indicate the time it takes them to prepare the 
work. Eeports from students based on 1,196 assignments show that 
a total of 8,163.17 hours were spent. in preparation, including the 
writing out of the lesson. This gives an average per lesson assign- 
ment of 6.09 hours. Upon the basis of a 40-assignment course giv- 
ing five semester hours of college credit, the time required by corre- 



30 CORRESPOlNrDEFCE STUDY 

spondence is, therefore, 276 hours. In residence the same amount of 
credit gained by five recitations per week for 18 weeks, with two 
hours of preparation for each hour of recitation, would require 270 
hours. Although the number of hours required to do the same 
amount of work by correspondence is greater than in residence 
according to these figures, it should be noted that the records of time 
upon the basis of which the estimate for correspondence work is 
made is the actual record, whereas the number of hours for residence 
work is an estimated number, and few students in residence spend 
two hours in preparation for each recitation. Actual figures, there- 
fore, for the time required to complete a five-credit course in resi- 
dence would probably show that the difference between the time 
spent in residence instruction and correspondence instruction is 
greater than these figures would indicate. 

THE AMOUNT OF COLLEGE CREDIT ALLOWED. 

The writer has discussed in a bulletin written for the United States 
Bureau of Education the matter of credits in correspondence study 
work. The description there given may be summarized here very 
briefly. No institution with which the writer is familiar permits 
all of the work for a degree to be done by correspondence. Ordi- 
narily only one-half, sometimes only one-third, of the total number 
of college credits required for degrees may be gained through cor- 
respondence study. A further restriction usually makes it neces- 
sary for the student to attend the last year of the course in residence. 

TEACHER CREDITS. 

Of special importance in the present need for trained teacher is 
the opportunity offered by correspondence study to teachers to enroll 
in order to obtain credit toward certificates and diplomas. Special 
professional courses given by correspondence are usually counted by 
the State departments of education toward the training necessary to 
obtain high-school teachers' certificates or to secure renewals of cer- 
tificates. In some cases the certifications of the institution upon the 
successful completion of the courses offered will be accepted by the 
State board in lieu of examination. The University of Oregon 
makes a special provision that teachers holding life certificates may 
satisfy the one year's residence requirement for graduation from the 
university by attending three sessions of the summer school and 
permits them to do the remainder of their work by correspondence. 
Other institutions whose correspondence work provides special ad- 
vantages for teachers are the Universities of Wyoming, North Caro- 
lina, Texas, Nebraska, Idaho, California, Utah, Kansas, the Colorado 
State Normal School, and the normal school at Albion, Idaho, 



IN UN-IYEKSITTES AE"D COLLEGES. 31 

POSTGRADUATE CREDIT. 

The correspondence study method is especially adapted to research 
■work and study of the type required in graduate instruction. De- 
spite this fact, however, comparatively few institutions have so far 
permitted candidates for graduate degrees to do any part of their 
work by correspondence. The University of Washington, for in- 
stance, offers some correspondence work of graduate grade, but this 
can not be used to obtain the master's degree, because the university 
requires one year, and only one year, of residence study for that 
degree. Any graduate work done by correspondence is, therefore, 
outside of and in addition to the required work. The University 
of Colorado, however, provides that a candidate for the second de- 
gree who has done satisfactory graduate work during one summer 
session may use correspondence study to satisfy part of the require- 
ments. The University of Oklahoma permits one-fourth of the work 
for a master's degree to be taken by correspondence provided per- 
mission in advance for each course is obtained from the dean of the 
graduate school. The University of Oregon provides that candidates 
may satisfy the residence requirements b}^ completing 12 hours in 
summer sessions and 6 hours in special research work under the 
immediate direction of the major professor. With the consent of 
the major professor arrangements may be made to do part of this 
work by correspondence. George Peabody College also permits part 
of the work for the degree to be done by this method although the 
minimum residence requirement can not be reduced in this way. 
The University of Utah permits corresj^ondence credit to be applied 
for the master's degree up to a maximum of 15 hours. The residence 
requirements of the University of Chicago do not permit work for 
the master's degree to be done by correspondence, but candidates for 
the doctor's degree may substitute correspondence study for resi- 
dence work upon approval in advance of the head of the department 
in which the work lies. The character of the institutions mentioned 
would indicate that the practice of permitting graduate students to 
secure credit by correspondence will undergo a great development 
during the next few years. 

TRANSFER OF CREDITS. 

The transfer of correspondence study credits from one institution 
to another has in some cases been the cause of considerable difficulty 
and friction between institutions. As between institutions of the 
high standing of most of those which give correspondence work 
there would seem to be little cause for any difficulty in this regard. 
It is hard to' see why the work by correspondence which the Uni- 
versity of Chicago accepts should be denied recognition when a 



32 COREESPONDENCE STUDY 

student transfers his registration to another institution. The Uni- 
versities of Wisconsin and North Dakota permit an amount of credit, 
not exceeding one-fourth of the number of hours required for gradu- 
ation, to be taken by students of other correspondence schools or i 
departments which are recognized by these universities as of a grade 
equal to their own correspondence work. The University of Wyom- : 
ing provides that correspondence study courses may be accepted for 
credit provided they are such as are received for credit by other 
approved institutions. The University of Utah is one of the most 
liberal in its provisions ' for accepting transfer credits. Upon the 
recommendation of the university departments concerned corre- 
spondence credit from other institutions may be accepted provided 
they have been earned in institutions where the requirements are 
substantially equivalent to those in the correspondence study depart- 
ment of the University of Utah. 

SCHOLARSHIPS. 

There are very few correspondence study scholarships offered by 
institutions. Scholarships of this kind when offered usually take 
the form of free tuition to residence work and are given for high 
grades in correspondence study conducted by the institution to which 
free tuition is offered. It is highly desirable that scholarships for 
correspondence courses themselves be created. They would provide 
a means of education to those who lack the financial resources to 
enroll in correspondence courses or the leisure to become residence 
students. The most noteworthy scholarships provided are those in 
the University of Chicago and in the University of Texas. In the 
University of Chicago — 

Three scholarships, each yielding tuition in residence for one quarter (pro- 
vided the regular charge for the same does not exceed $40), are awarded 
annually on April 1 to the three students who have begun, completed, and 
passed the greatest number of major correspondence courses (but at least four) 
that represent new advanced work, with a grade of (B) or better for each 
course, during the preceding 12 months. If two or more persons finish the 
same number of majors, the scholarships will be awarded to those whose average 
grade for the courses in question is highest ; and in case of a tie here, in the 
order in which they finish, beginning with the earliest. 

Class B. A scholarship yielding tuition in residence for one quarter (provided 
the regular charge for the same does not exceed $40) is awarded to a student 
for every four major correspondence courses that represent new advanced work 
which he has begun since April 1, 1904, completed, and passed with a grade of 
(B) or better for each course. 

In 1913 the board of regents of the University of Texas — 

authorized the granting of resident scholarships to correspondence students who 
complete as many as five full courses (fifteen-thirds or correspondence courses) 



UT UjS"IVERSITIE.S AND COLLEGES. 33 

with an average grade of (B). These scholarships are siniihir to the afSliated 
school scholarships and entitle the holder to exemption from matriculation fees 
in the college of arts, the department of education, and the department of 
engineering so long as their conduct and standing are satisfactory to the faculty. 

CONCLUSION. 

Inexpensive methods of quickly reproducing written material in 
considerable quantity have, in combination with cheap and rapid 
mail service, enabled correspondence teaching to be carried on ex- 
tensively and effectively. But more important than these external 
devices are the pioneer study and practice of the method by the 
proprietary correspondence schools and the universities and colleges 
supported by public funds. Their work has developed the technique 
of the method and shown the extent and effectiveness of the service 
that can be rendered. The experimental state in the development 
of the general method has now been passed and the results obtained 
are now available to serve as a basis for the application of the method 
upon a more extensive and serviceable scale. 

Contemporaneously with the creation of standard methods for 
preparing and conducting correspondence courses, our industrial, 
commercial, economic, and social life has been analyzed scientifically 
into a great number of related but distinct phases and each of these 
phases subjected to careful and constructive study. This work has 
been carried on for the purpose of acquiring more complete under- 
standing of the elements and meaning of material and social proc- 
esses in their relation to specific economic and community problems. 

The increased knowledge of industrial processes thus gained has 
been used almost exclusively by large corporations and business enter- 
prises for the purpose of training their workers and administrators 
to accomplish more profitable results. Corporation schools and pri- 
vate associations are themselves instructing their employees and 
members. The public schools do not provide the training required, 
although the development of continuation schools has in part m.et the 
need for a closer relationship between theoretical understanding 
and practical application of industrial and business knowledge. 

Privately organized associations have been formed for the study 
of social and political organization and expedients, largely because 
the existing educational agencies have no way of informing the com- 
mon man about these things unless exceptional conditions enable him 
to pursue a long course of study as a resident in an institution of 
learning. These organizations for the promotion of their cause issue 
pamphlets, engage in extensive publicity, and even offer simple 
correspondence courses. 



34 CORRESPONDENCE STUDY 

In both these phases of newly organized knowledge, the material 
and the social, are innumerable fields which, msbj be explored by the 
common man in a compara,tively short time. Few of them require 
for his practical purposes long periods of study; few would justify 
the expenditure of the time and money needed for resident study. 
Brief and simple correspondence courses which may be studied at 
home while in daily contact with work and society may be written 
and taught on evevj phase of this rapidly extending knowledge of 
our economic processes and of our common life. Here lies the great 
future opportunity of the correspondence study method. 



o 



